Kwiziq- how good is it? And how do you best use it?

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jeffers
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Re: Kwiziq- how good is it? And how do you best use it?

Postby jeffers » Sat Jul 31, 2021 3:44 pm

I've had a one-month subscription to Kwiziq and I've used it quite a bit. However, I'm a little bit frustrated by their Q&A forum, specifically the lack of answers to general usage questions.

A couple of weeks ago I asked this question about recommendations for going back and reviewing:
q1.png


First, I got this non-answer:
q2.png


Then one of the team members gave this answer, saying that the Q&A forum is for cultural and language questions only (which isn't stated anywhere):
q3.png


Yesterday I asked another general use question about using notebooks. The same Jim as above replied, "Suggest you consult the help desk." So I replied, "Good suggestion but that's not an answer. Anyone else?"

Frankly, although I have found Kwiziq useful the experience has pissed me off to the extent that I'm not going to continue my subscription for the time being. Maybe I'll start it up again in a few days, maybe not. It has been really good to have a thorough review of grammar, and I had actually been planning to subscribe for 12 months! I'm glad I had this second "non answer" experience before subscribing, because they're not the only option. It's time to dust off my Grammare progressive.
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jeffers
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Re: Kwiziq- how good is it? And how do you best use it?

Postby jeffers » Mon Aug 02, 2021 8:27 am

Update:
In response to my question about review, Cécile wrote this:
q4.png


So I wrote the following response:
q5.png


Meanwhile, thanks to my frustration with Kwiziq I've not only cracked open my Grammaire progressive du français but signed on to their online activities and it turns out they are actually fantastic! For every lesson in the book there is an audio dialogue and several self-marking exercises. The one downside is that once you complete an exercise you can't do it again because your answers remain when you go back to it.
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lusan
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Re: Kwiziq- how good is it? And how do you best use it?

Postby lusan » Mon Aug 02, 2021 4:52 pm

I loved it. I did it all the way to top. Then I stopped. Currently, I stored French for a year since I focus on Italian. I might return to the tests when I pick up French again. Pay special interest to your error while using the program.
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Re: Kwiziq- how good is it? And how do you best use it?

Postby kanewai » Tue Aug 03, 2021 1:00 am

jeffers wrote:Meanwhile, thanks to my frustration with Kwiziq I've not only cracked open my Grammaire progressive du français but signed on to their online activities and it turns out they are actually fantastic! For every lesson in the book there is an audio dialogue and several self-marking exercises. The one downside is that once you complete an exercise you can't do it again because your answers remain when you go back to it.
oooh, thanks! Earlier this summer I was debating between restarting Kwiziq or restarting Grammaire progressive.

I did a few months with Kwiziq, and that seems to be the limit for me. I find it very useful for a period, and then I start to plateau. I only do the quizzes, though; I've never played with any of their other functions.
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Re: Kwiziq- how good is it? And how do you best use it?

Postby Gala » Wed Aug 04, 2021 4:33 am

jeffers wrote: ...I looked at one of the recommended lessons, and it basically looked like a Wikipedia entry. At the end it had a "kwiz" which had two questions and used up the second of my 10 free quizzes for the month. I'm not sure I gained much from doing that...


Yeah, I *never* select the "Kwiz now" button on the upper-right of the Kwiziq lessons because, as you said, that only leads to two-question quizzes which use up a full quiz credit. I guess those mini-quizzes about one sole grammar topic might have some utility for paying members, but they're definitely not worth expending a quiz credit on.

I always access the quizzes from either my Notebook (to which free members can add a maximum of 10 lessons) or my "Studyplan" of recommended lessons (on the "Dashboard" page.) Both the Notebook and the Studyplan have an orange button at the top labeled "Test your knowledge." Selecting that gives you a 10 question quiz, one question for each lesson that's on the respective list of lessons (assuming you've added 10 of them to the Notebook.) You can also access the 10 question quizzes from any of the lessons that are in your Studyplan or Notebook; just scroll down the lesson's page to where it says either "Have you mastered 'My Notebook'?...Test now" or "Have you mastered 'My Recommendations'?...Test now."
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Re: Kwiziq- how good is it? And how do you best use it?

Postby Cavesa » Thu Aug 05, 2021 3:35 pm

Kanewai's review is overall excellent.

I'd just like add my two cents:

+ the library of the explanations (accessible for free) may look like wikipedia, but is overall very good, and contains even some topics most resources don't really think of. Some are excellent, some are a bit worse, but it looks like the quality is really improving.

+ I second that the drills don't let you "cheat", there are so many that it works. That's one of the main differences between Kwiziq and toys like Duolingo.

+ It's not punitive, I totally agree with Kanewai, and it really lets you pick your path through the programm. If you are primarily following a coursebook, just pick what you need to practice for your lesson. If you are reading a book, pick the feature you've been encountering. If you want to just learn everything, make that beautiful brainmap all green! If you skip a day, no problem at all.

- the English base can be an issue. I got some things "wrong", because I was tested more on English than French or Spanish. Stuff like modal verbs or conditions can mess up a non native, even one with C1 English, and my propositions of better wordings (that wouldn't be leading a non native the wrong way and totally against how we are being taught English) got some patronizing response from Kwiziq.

+The support is overall reactive and really does the job. That's not obvious, and it should be appreciated.

- The price is rather high. But they tend to have sales on days like the Black Friday, the Christmas, etc.

kanewai wrote:It is a great program for an intermediate learner who still makes lots of mistakes and needs to fine-tune their knowledge. I don't know how it will work for an advanced learner or a beginner.


I can tell you, at least for one of the two categories. It is great for an advanced learner wishing to review stuff efficiently, and to cover some gaps other resources (even the Progressives!!!!) don't seem to think of or pay enough attention to. Grammar review never hurts.

As to a beginner, I really hope they'll add some new language I will try it on. I was a false beginner in Spanish, when I started Kwiziq, and it was an excellent experience, and I was improving very fast and fixing old mistakes and gaps. It was basically what I had hoped Duolingo would become (and it became the opposite). A platform for efficient individualised learning of the grammar.

jeffers wrote:My only hesitation is that I would hate to spend money and then not use it much. On the other hand, spending money may be the additional push I need to make me use a resource rather than simply collecting resources! :lol:

I'm in the position Kanewai described: intermediate with a shaky foundation. This might just be the thing to shore up that foundation and fill in the cracks! When I have some more time this afternoon I'll do some lessons and some of the free quizzes and see how it goes.


I found out yesterday that I had been paying for several months for my fiancés account, that I thought was deactivated half a year ago, as he had no time due to his degree. :-D :-D :-D soooo much money down the drain... (ok, the smileys are not exact, I feel like howling at our shared stupidity).

But when you pay for a few months and use it heavily, it is an excellent investment imho. It pushed me to work harder, when I wanted to get rid of the subscription.

At your level, Kwiziq should be extremely useful.

It then gave me 5 of the same lessons, and 5 new lessons. I'm not quite sure what to do with those 5 same lessons, since I don't think there will be much value in reading through them again. What I feel the lessons are missing is more practice within the lessons. A two question quiz at the end doesn't do much, and when you're on the free account they're a waste of quizzes.


Ah, I never cared much for the mini quizes, I did the normal ones. You are not supposed to reread the the lessons over and over, the main value is in practicing them enough! It is a shame that the program lead you waste your free quizes on the mini quizes or something. THe main part are quizzes with up to 10 questions, always one per grammar topic. The main value lies in doing hundreds of those quizzes, which is why I think the free version is of very limited value. And barely enough to really show off the program, if people are lead to wasting their free quizzes on something else than the main drills.

I recommend picking any path you like, making your own notebook with 10 or a bit more topics at a time, and drilling that. That's my favourite way to do Kwiziq.

It is a bar chart showing what % she has achieved for each level and how many of the lessons at each level she has completed. How do you get to see that chart? Is it hiding somewhere on the dashboard?
.....
That page has a chart of CEFR level progress, but what it's missing is the column showing how many topics have been tested, which I think is the most useful part of the chart Bex showed.


Click on the "achievements" on the dashboard (if I remember correctly), you'll see the achievement page with the number of quizzes you've done, diamonds for the completed lessons, and the % progress bars per level. The number tested is there, there is a big chart showing a symbol for each lesson you've been working on and gotten at least Bronze at. The diamonds are first, then the gold, the silver, the bronze. I found this growing chart very motivating.

Frankly, although I have found Kwiziq useful the experience has pissed me off to the extent that I'm not going to continue my subscription for the time being. Maybe I'll start it up again in a few days, maybe not. It has been really good to have a thorough review of grammar, and I had actually been planning to subscribe for 12 months! I'm glad I had this second "non answer" experience before subscribing, because they're not the only option. It's time to dust off my Grammare progressive.


I totally understand that decision, but I think you had some bad luck on unhelpful people. Perhaps later will be a better time for Kwiziq in your study routine. Dusting off the Grammaire Progressive is always a great idea.
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